Civilization VII Tops PC Gamer's "Most Wanted" List for 2025

Civilization VII has been crowned the most anticipated PC game of 2025 by PC Gamer's "Most Wanted" event. The announcement, made during the December 6th PC Gaming Show, highlights the game's considerable buzz ahead of its release. The Creative Director shed light on new mechanics designed to enhance campaign engagement.

A Top Ranking Among Highly Anticipated Titles

The "Most Wanted" list, compiled from votes by a panel of over 70 developers, content creators, and PC Gamer editors, placed Civ VII at the top of its 25 most exciting upcoming games for 2025. The nearly three-hour livestream also featured trailers and updates for other titles, including Let’s Build a Dungeon and Drivers of the Apocalypse.

Doom: The Dark Ages and Monster Hunter Wilds secured second and third place, respectively, with Slay the Spire 2 rounding out the top four. Other notable games on the list include Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, The Thing: Remastered, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Interestingly, Hollow Knight: Silksong was absent from both the list and the event's trailer showcase.

Civilization VII's simultaneous launch on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch is scheduled for February 11, 2025.

New "Ages" Mechanic Aims to Boost Campaign Completion Rates

In a PC Gamer interview on December 6th, Creative Director Ed Beach discussed a key new mechanic in Civ VII: the "Ages" system. This feature directly addresses Firaxis Games' data revealing a significant number of Civ VI players never completed a full campaign.

Beach stated, "We had a lot of data that people would play Civilization games and they would never get all the way to the end...so we wanted to do whatever we could—whether it was reducing micromanagement, restructuring the game—to really address that problem directly."

The "Ages" system divides campaigns into three distinct eras: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Upon the conclusion of each Age, players can transition to a historically or geographically linked civilization, mirroring the rise and fall of real-world empires.

This transition isn't random; connections must exist. For instance, the Roman Empire might progress to the French Empire, potentially with the Norman Empire serving as a bridge. Leaders persist across Ages, maintaining player connection to their empire and rivals. An "overbuild" feature allows constructing new buildings atop existing ones, while Wonders and certain structures remain intact.

This innovative approach offers players the chance to experience multiple civilizations within a single playthrough, managing various aspects of cultural, military, diplomatic, and economic strategies while maintaining a consistent leadership identity.